Category-defining tech. Career-defining work.
Lots of tech companies disrupt. But, many fail when they try to scale. We're different. CockroachDB makes it easier for companies to build and scale apps. This is how and why we're helping some of the most innovative companies on the planet. We tackle problems head-on and focus on solutions that create lasting impact.
Because when our customers win, we all win.
The Role
Cockroach Labs is hiring an early-career software engineer for the Developer Infrastructure team. Our work spans a range of disciplines, including software engineering, software builds, CI/CD systems, AI development tools, cloud infrastructure, and information security.
The Developer Infrastructure team builds development tools and systems to enable all of Engineering at Cockroach Labs. Our work has a broad-reaching impact on teams who rely on these tools on a daily basis. Our tools and systems encompass the workflow of the entire Engineering team, ranging from the CI pipeline to internal cloud infrastructure. Success in this role means collaborating with many teams and improving workflows for engineers working in both database and cloud engineering. As part of a small, senior team, you'll get direct mentorship and regular feedback from experienced engineers and engineering leadership.
The ideal candidate has prior experience in software engineering, CI systems, source control and builds, automation, or cloud infrastructure, and enjoys working on a variety of problems and projects between building software and managing infrastructure.
You Will
- Learn engineers’ daily workflows across the org and identify ways to increase productivity and reduce friction through new tools and processes
- Provide direct support to engineers using our systems
- Maintain the health and performance of our CI system
- Build developer infrastructure tools, primarily in Go
The Expectations
First month: You'll onboard as a member of the Developer Infrastructure team. Your first two weeks focus on how Cockroach Labs works across departments and on our DB and Cloud Engineering teams. You'll start with small tasks, then take on larger starter projects to learn our systems, development workflows, and how CockroachDB and CockroachDB Cloud work. We expect you to use this month to get familiar with our technology and company.
Second month: You'll take on your first medium-sized project (several weeks in scope), partnering with one or more engineers to plan and deliver it.
By month three: You'll be a fully contributing team member, having owned and completed one or more medium-sized projects. You'll have enough familiarity to propose and scope work and to support other Cockroach Labs engineers on our development tools.
You Have
- A BS in Computer Science or equivalent experience
- A desire to make other engineers more productive — you think of engineers as your customers
- Curiosity and willingness to learn unfamiliar tools and systems quickly
- Strong communication skills and a collaborative, service-oriented mindset
- Comfort working in Unix/Linux command-line environments
You'll stand out if you also have experience with:
- Cloud infrastructure on GCP or AWS
- Build systems and CI/CD pipelines (Bazel, TeamCity, GitHub Actions, Webpack etc.)
- Agentic AI development tools (Cursor, Claude Code)
- Infrastructure-as-code (Terraform)
- Go programming
The Team
Our team values:
Support with a service mindset — High-quality support for engineering teams and a strong desire to help people work more productively.
Listening and partnering — Building relationships with engineers, understanding pain points, and identifying opportunities to improve our systems and tools.
Reducing toil — Minimizing manual work through automation.
Team Leadership:
Ken Liu - Sr. Director of Engineering
Ken is an experienced engineering leader who has built and scaled teams at several high-growth startups in NYC. Since joining Cockroach Labs in 2019, he has built our Engineering Productivity, Security Engineering, and Compliance functions from scratch while also leading several DB engineering teams. Outside work, he spends most of his energy keeping up with his two teenagers and enjoys reliving the 90s by rollerblading on weekends.
**BabuSrithar - Site Lead, India **
BabuSrithar is the Site Leader for India. He is responsible for our growth strategy and is a cultural champion in the region. He is passionate about building high-quality software products and lean teams by leveraging everyone's potential. He enjoys working with people and learning along the way. Before joining Cockroach Labs, BabuSrithar held senior leadership positions at companies like Nutanix, Clumio and recently he was VP of engineering at Apty where he led the engineering globally. When not at work, he enjoys his time with his 3-year-old and family.
Jordan Lewis - VP of Engineering
Jordan is the Head of Engineering for Cockroach Labs. He’s responsible for the teams that build, maintain and keep CockroachDB reliably serving the needs of Cockroach Labs’ most demanding customer base. He joined Cockroach Labs as a Database Engineer in 2016 when it was just 25 people before moving into engineering leadership leading the Global Engineering organization. Jordan lives in his hometown of Brooklyn NY with his wife. Outside of work he enjoys folk music and riding his electric scooter around town.
Cockroach Labs is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer building a diverse and inclusive workforce. If you need additional accommodations to feel comfortable during your interview process, please email us at accessibility@cockroachlabs.com.
Cockroach Labs has a hybrid work model, with Roachers that are local to one of our offices coming in on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays and working flexibly the rest of the week. While we’ve learned valuable lessons working remotely, nothing can replace the connection, creativity, and fun that occurs when Roachers get together and we are committed to fostering a workplace that encourages collaboration and allows us all to do our best work.
Benefits
- Stock Options
- Medical Insurance
- Vision Insurance
- Dental Insurance
- Life and Disability Insurance
- Professional Development Funds
- Flexible Time Off
- Paid Holidays
- Paid Sick Days
- Paid Parental Leave
- Retirement Benefits
- Mental Wellbeing Benefits
- And more!
The annual anticipated base salary range for U.S. candidates for this role is listed in USD below. Salary is one component of the Cockroach Labs’ Total Rewards package, which also includes, for each employee: stock options, medical insurance, vision insurance, dental insurance, life and disability insurance, funds towards professional development resources, flexible paid time off, 11 paid holidays a year, 10 paid sick days a year, paid parental leave, a 401(k) plan, and wellbeing benefits.
We set standard ranges for all U.S.-based roles based on function, level, and geographic location, benchmarked against similar stage growth companies. Actual salaries may vary and fall outside of this range depending on factors such as a candidate’s qualifications, geographic location, skills, experience, and competencies. In addition, we are often open to a wide variety of profiles, and recognize that the person we hire may be less experienced (or more senior) than this job description as posted.
Salaries for candidates outside the U.S. will vary based on local compensation structures.
This position will remain posted until filled. Applicants should apply via our Careers Page.
Annual Anticipated Base Salary Range (U.S)
$125,000—$150,000 USD